California Golden Bears in Pac-10 semis after win over Oregon Ducks

by Greg Beacham - Mar. 11, 2010 08:26 PMAssociated Press

LOS ANGELES - After making a clever move and a slick layup for his third basket in the first 100 seconds, Jerome Randle says he just had a feeling he could hit every shot he took in California's Pac-10 tournament opener.

Oregon coach Ernie Kent was less forthcoming after possibly his final game with the Ducks.

Randle scored 22 points without missing a shot in the first half, and the top-seeded Golden Bears easily advanced to the semifinals with a 90-74 victory Thursday.

Patrick Christopher had 21 points and five assists for the Bears (22-9), who followed up their first outright conference title in a half-century by sending home the weary Ducks (16-16) with a remarkable half from Randle, who went 8-for-8 with four 3-pointers while staking Cal to a 16-point lead. The conference player of the year set the tone in an early nine-second span when he hit a 3-pointer from three steps behind the line before stealing the ball and driving past two defenders for that breathtaking layup.

"I just have these moments sometimes," Randle said. "It just feels good. When I hit the third shot, it just felt like I wasn't going to miss."

Randle didn't score while playing just eight minutes in the second half of his 34th 20-point game at Cal. But the Bears got plenty of help from Jamal Boykin, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half, and Christopher, who hit five 3-pointers.

"That was a game we needed to have," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "We shot the ball well, and when we do that, we're fairly efficient and it makes us hard to beat."

Cal, which has won five straight and eight of nine, will face UCLA on Friday.

The future isn't nearly as clear for Kent, who reportedly has already been told he won't return next season to Oregon, where he became the winningest coach in school history with 235 victories over 13 years. Barring a postseason berth, Kent coached his final game with energy, constantly jumping up to urge on the Ducks as Cal overwhelmed them.

"I'm proud of our guys for coming in and battling while having so much other noise in their heads," Kent said while declining to talk specifically about the rumors of his imminent departure. "I'm hopeful we'll playing somewhere (next week), frankly."

Tajuan Porter scored 26 points and broke the Pac-10 career record for 3-pointers, but Oregon's defense couldn't slow the versatile Bears, who made 16 of their first 22 shots and seized control late in the first half of their third win over Oregon this season. The eighth-seeded Ducks were taken to overtime by Washington State in their first-round game Wednesday night.

"It's always tough playing back-to-back like that," said Oregon forward LaKendric Longmire, who had 16 points and seven rebounds. "They came in hot, and we didn't take the 3-point shot away from them."

Kent said he'd speak to athletic director Mike Bellotti about his future when he returned to Eugene. Kent was the last member of the Oregon crew to leave the court, getting claps on the back from players and the Ducks mascot.

"Thanks, coach! We love you!" shouted a lone fan near the Oregon bench.

Malcolm Armstead added 10 points for the Ducks. While most Oregon players declined to comment about Kent's situation, Longmire spoke up prominently in his defense.

"As players, we try not to focus on it, but personally, it sticks with you everywhere you go," Longmire said. "Coach is a great person. We love Coach, and we want him here. We need him here. He's the guy that can take us where we need to be. He's proven that."

Cal is the top seed in the Pac-10 tournament for the first time in school history after winning the regular-season title with four seniors in its starting lineup.

While Randle moved within 10 points of Sean Lampley's career scoring record at Cal, Christopher is just one point behind Kevin Johnson for fifth place on the Bears' career list.

When the Pac-10's two dominant, diminutive guards from the Midwest went head-to-head in the first half, the 5-foot-10 Randle mostly outplayed the 5-foot-7 Porter.

Porter tied the Pac-10 3-pointers record set by Arizona's Salim Stoudamire in 2005 in the opening minutes, and he established a new mark with the 343rd of his career with 12:06 left in the first half. The senior guard scored 32 points in the Ducks' overtime victory Wednesday.

"We're kind of alike," Porter said of Randle. "He's playing at a high level, and he's put that team on his back."

California's Jerome Randle, and Patrick Christopher laugh it up in the closing minutes of an NCAA college basketball game against Oregon at the Pac-10 Conference tournament, Thursday, March 11, 2010, in Los Angeles.